Sweet Charity

Mahonia x media Charity Well, actually, I know that the two close-ups are the named variety Charity - the other photograph was taken in the Woodland Garden at Kew and was too far into the border for me to make out a label. I'm certain there was one - they are sticklers for labelling but…

From Japanese Maples to a lone Japanese Anemone…

Japanese Anemone It pays to pay attention to your own garden - especially when you've been so busy or the weather has been against you, or the newly dark evenings have caught you by surprise. Perhaps, like me, you have been anxious to take in the show at Wisley or Kew (replace with your own…

Acers in my garden

Acer palmatum dissectum Acer palmatum Atropurpureum Acer griseum These three acers are all in pots, at the bottom of the garden and effectively screened from the house by a miniature forest of boisterous bamboos and all manner of more traditional ever-greenery. They form a backdrop to the thatched Breeze House (placed under the canopy of…

Chaos theory, logarithms and cauliflowers

Brassica oleracea 'Romansco' A trip to the supermarket and back with a little piece of fractal mathematics - spirals within spirals within logarithmic spirals - in fact, this is probably the first time since school that I've made any mention of logarithms... The chartreuse green of this little, rather pricey, vegetable hasn't truly come through…

Pure white Nerines

The pure white of the Guernsey lily, Nerine bowdenii 'Alba' The Cape flower or Guernsey lily is a beautiful perennial bulb, producing upright stems of white, lily-like flowers, occasionally flushed pale pink, with wavy-edged, recurved petals, appearing in the autumn. The rich green, strap-like leaves appear after the flowers. Cultivate in any good, moist but…

Cotinus Golden Spirit

Cotinus coggygria Golden Spirit  - an addition to the smoke bush family, adding to established favourites Cotinus coggygria Royal Purple (the darker leaves, framing the golden leaves of Golden Spirit), Flame and Grace. I have Flame in my own garden, a tall, oval leaved tower of blue-greenery which obscures the house beyond beautifully and is…

A touch of orange – Dahlia David Howard

Dahlia David Howard, among grasses and late flowering salvias, catching the November sun.. The dahlias are almost over - the inevitable frosts are heading our way, to blacken the foliage and signal the time to lift and protect the tubers until next spring. This particular variety, compact and with already dark leaves and small, beautifully…

Strawberry Tree

Arbutus unedo - the Strawberry Tree A slow growing, evergreen tree that deserves to be more popular here in the UK - it is already widely planted in the Continent, even used in street planting and is attractive on so many fronts. Evergreen, of course, is always useful - a flowering tree ticks more boxes,…